Yearly Archive for: ‘2009’

Wow, the town halls are hot in the news – but not because the media is talking about what we need in terms of health reform, or how the health crisis is hurting Americans and American businesses, but because of the sound of people trying to disrupt the town hall process by yelling and screaming. It would be one thing …

In his New York Times column, economist Paul Krugman finally discusses some of the things that drive the high costs and low health outcomes of our current health care system: Many health care experts believe that one main reason we spend far more on health than any other advanced nation, without better health outcomes, is the fee-for-service system in which hospitals …

As part of the New York Times’ Economic Scene series, David Leonhardt exposes the hidden tax in our current health care system: The United States now devotes one-sixth of its economy to medicine. Divvy that up, and health care will cost the typical household roughly $15,000 this year, including the often-invisible contributions by employers. That is almost twice as much as …

In his blog post on Blue Oregon, Steve Novick joins President Obama and former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber in declaring that we can’t do health reform without addressing the cost of care. Here’s how he begins: As the health care battle rages on, I suggest that everyone who has not already done so take the time to read this New Yorker article …

From today’s New York Times: A high-level state commission recommended Thursday that Massachusetts seek to rein in health care costs by radically restructuring the way doctors and hospitals are paid. The commission’s action kicks off the second phase of a health care overhaul that has succeeded in covering nearly every resident of the state but done little to slow the relentless growth of …